Fife childhood friends play same starring role in Wicked on two stages at same time

Megan Gardiner will be part of the big festive show at the Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh - and over 130,000 tickets have already been sold for his six week run - and, incredibly, her childhood best friend from Fife is playing the same role at the same time in the West End production.

Megan and Caitlin Anderson both play the role of Nessarose, the sister of Elphaba who is an outsider on account of her green skin. The cast includes West End stars Laura Pick, Sarah O’Connor, Carl Man, and Simeon Truby.

Megan was born in Kirkcaldy, and raised in Dunfermline, where she first met Caitlin at the city’s Carnegie Youth Theatre Academy.

Megan said: Megan: “I was so excited to be given the part and was utterly ecstatic when I received the call. Caitlin and I have known other friends go on to play the same part over time, but we have never known friends to play the same part, in different productions, at the same time! We’ve always joked that our live are synced. - so many things seem to happen at similar times for us on a personal level and now that’s seeped into our professional lives, too!

“I got the call from my agent literally as I was leaving the house to go and see Caitlin perform in Wicked. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect! I sat watching the show with so much excitement knowing that was going to be me too whilst also cheering her on. It felt magical.”

Megan has enjoyed a successful career on the stage. She attended the MGA Academy of Performing Arts in Edinburgh, and has toured the UK in Les Misérables, and recently appeared in George Takei’s Allegiance at the Charing Cross Theatre, London.

The two actors first met as teenagers - Megan attended St Columba’s High school, and Caitlin went to Dunfermline High.

Caitlin said: We were 13, we started talking, and just never stopped! Megan has very much become part of my family over the last ten years, so much so we get asked all the time if we are sisters.”Wicked has earned five-star reviews across the board, and standing ovations on its return to Edinburgh - the third time it has taken to the Playhouse stage after sold out visits in 2014 and 2018. The show runs until Sunday, January 14. Tickets at www.atgtickets.com/Edinburgh.

Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s musical, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire, imagines a beguiling backstory and future possibilities to the lives of L. Frank Baum's beloved characters from ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, revealing the decisions and events that shape the destinies of two unlikely university friends on their journey to becoming ‘Glinda The Good’ and the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’.

Megan said: “To be opening the show at the iconic Playhouse in Edinburgh felt completely surreal. I grew up going to watch so many musicals there and I can’t believe I will be on stage with the most wonderful performers in that amazing theatre.

“Growing up, I used to go to visit the Edinburgh Playhouse all the time and especially at Christmas. I was always so delighted to go – hoping one day that I could be on stage performing. To be able to open Wicked in Edinburgh, my home, is an absolute dream come true.”And Caitlin hopes their schedules will co-incide so she can swap the stage for the stalls and see her friend perform.

“I know my family are all very excited to see Megan in Edinburgh, and I’m hoping to make it between my shows a little closer to London when the show comes to Bristol!”